According to the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, Montemayor is the woman pictured in a series of 40 widely distributed child pornography images, about half of which depict a woman and a man molesting what looks like a young girl. Authorities publicized the photos Thursday morning, after years of unsuccessfully attempting to identify the suspects in the photos.

At about 2 p.m., ICE agents received their first tip on the possible identity of the female suspect, which was corroborated by subsequent tips. Montemayor's arrest came 10 hours after the photos were released. The man, whose face was blocked in the images, has not been identified.

The investigation started five years ago, when a federal raid in Chicago first turned up the photos in the so-called "Jen series" (federal authorities give names to unidentified victims). Since then, they've turned up in over 275 child pornography investigations across the country.